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Famous Scientist Quiz

Famous Scientist Quiz

A handful of very famous scientists were notorious for their experimentation with illicit drugs during their careers, and all of the scientists in this 10 question quiz fit into this category. You can judge their actions as right or wrong based on your own moral beliefs, but there is no doubt that each of these individuals made tremendous contributions to the worlds of science & technology.

This post was inspired by an article from io9.com that I won’t link here because I don’t want you to be tempted to cheat!

So, let’s see how well you know these scientific geniuses by taking the 1st ever RobotSpaceBrain quiz.

Scientist Drug Quiz:

Which Drugs Did These Scientists Use?

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Hopefully you have learned a bit about the interesting underworld of science. Unfortunately, they don’t usually teach you this stuff in school.
Check out io9 for more information on each of the scientists in the quiz.

Your answers are highlighted below.

Question 1

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud: Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 1 Explanation:

Freud wrote about many self-experiments in which he had swallowed various quantities of the drug, finding it useful in relieving brief episodes of depression and anxiety. Later, he described how “a small dose lifted me to the heights in a wonderful fashion. I am just now busy collecting the literature” — in German, French and English — “for a song of praise to this magical substance.”

Question 2

Francis Crick

Francis Crick: One of two co-discoverers of the structure of the DNA molecule in 1953, together with James D. Watson.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 2 Explanation:

“Yes, when not discovering the key to life, and winning the Nobel Prize for it, Crick spent the 50s and 60s throwing all night parties famous for featuring that era’s favorite party favors: LSD and nudity. Crick never made it a secret that he experimented with the drug, and in 2006, the London paper The Mail on Sunday reported that Crick had told many colleagues that he was experimenting with LSD when he figured out the double helix structure.” [via cracked.com]

Question 3

Richard Feynman

Choose 3 Drugs!

Richard Feynman: American physicist known for his work in the path integral formulation of quantum mechanics, the theory of quantum electrodynamics and the physics of the superfluidity of supercooled liquid helium, as well as in particle physics.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 3 Explanation:

Feynman was careful about drug use, but he experimented briefly with LSD, ketamine, and marijuana, which he used to bring on isolation-induced hallucinations more quickly than he could when sober.

Question 4

Thomas Edison

Thomas Edison: He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 4 Explanation:

“In 1863, French chemist Angelo Mariani invented “Vin Mariani,” a Bordeaux wine treated with coca leaves, the active ingredient of which is none other than cocaine. The ethanol content in the Bordeax could extract cocaine from the coca leaves in concentrations exceeding 7mg per fluid ounce of wine. Thomas Edison — the prolific American inventor and notorious insomniac (though perhaps not surprisingly) — was one of many people of the period known to regularly consume the cocaine-laced elixir.” [via io9.com]

Question 5

Paul Erdos

Paul Erdos: A Hungarian mathematician, Erdős published more papers than any other mathematician in history. He worked on problems in combinatorics, graph theory, number theory, classical analysis, approximation theory, set theory, and probability theory.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 5 Explanation:

Like all of Erdös’s friends, [fellow mathematician Ronald Graham] was concerned about his drug-taking. In 1979, Graham bet Erdös $500 that he couldn’t stop taking amphetamines for a month. Erdös accepted the challenge, and went cold turkey for thirty days. After Graham paid up — and wrote the $500 off as a business expense — Erdös said, “You’ve showed me I’m not an addict. But I didn’t get any work done. I’d get up in the morning and stare at a blank piece of paper. I’d have no ideas, just like an ordinary person. You’ve set mathematics back a month.” He promptly resumed taking pills, and mathematics was the better for it.

Question 6

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs: American businessman and inventor widely recognized as a charismatic pioneer of the personal computer revolution. He was co-founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Apple Inc. Jobs was co-founder and previously served as chief executive of Pixar Animation Studios; he became a member of the board of directors of The Walt Disney Company in 2006, following the acquisition of Pixar by Disney. Recently passed away due to Pancreatic Cancer.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 6 Explanation:

Steve Job loved LSD. At one point in his life, Jobs traveled to India and came back with his head shaved and wearing traditional Indian clothing. During this time, Jobs experimented with psychedelics, calling his LSD experiences “one of the two or three most important things [he had] done in [his] life”. He also became a serious practitioner of Zen Buddhism, engaged in lengthy meditation retreats at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the oldest Sōtō Zen monastery in the US, considered taking up monastic residence, and maintained a lifelong appreciation for Zen. Jobs even reportedly criticized Bill Gates for not trying LSD, and even believed that could explain his lack of creativity…

Question 7

Bill Gates

Bill Gates: American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen. He is consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 7 Explanation:

But Steve Jobs was wrong!
According to a Playboy interview:
“PLAYBOY: Ever take LSD?
GATES: My errant youth ended a long time ago.
PLAYBOY: What does that mean?
GATES: That means there were things I did under the age of 25 that I ended up not doing subsequently.
PLAYBOY: One LSD story involved you staring at a table and thinking the corner was going to plunge into your eye.
GATES: [Smiles]
PLAYBOY: Ah, a glimmer of recognition.
GATES: That was on the other side of that boundary. The young mind can deal with certain kinds of gooping around that I don’t think at this age I could. I don’t think you’re as capable of handling lack of sleep or whatever challenges you throw at your body as you get older. However, I never missed a day of work.”
[via io9]

Question 8

John C. Lilly

Choose 2 Drugs!

John C. Lilly: Lilly was a physician and psychoanalyst. He made contributions in the fields of biophysics, neurophysiology, electronics, computer science, and neuroanatomy. He invented and promoted the use of an isolation tank as a means of sensory deprivation. He also attempted interspecies communication between humans and dolphins. His work helped the creation of the United States Marine Mammal Protection Act.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 8 Explanation:

“From the Esalen Institute to Chile to ketamine-induced extraterrestrial contacts in other realities, this man’s life is more far-out than any science fiction. Always following the scientific tradition that carved his name into history, John Lilly systematically and courageously explored the states of consciousness produced by LSD and ketamine while in the isolation tank.” from Mavericks of the Mind

Question 9

Kerry Mullis

Kary Mullis: Nobel Prize winning American biochemist, author, and lecturer. In recognition of his improvement of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique, he won the 1993 Nobel Prize.

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 9 Explanation:

In a Q&A interview published in the September, 1994, issue of California Monthly, Mullis said, “Back in the 1960s and early ’70s I took plenty of LSD. A lot of people were doing that in Berkeley back then. And I found it to be a mind-opening experience. It was certainly much more important than any courses I ever took.” During a symposium held for centenarian Albert Hofmann, “Hofmann revealed that he was told by Nobel-prize-winning chemist Kary Mullis that LSD had helped him develop the polymerase chain reaction that helps amplify specific DNA sequences.” Replying to his own postulate during an interview for BBC’s Psychedelic Science documentary, “What if I had not taken LSD ever; would I have still invented PCR?” He replied, “I don’t know. I doubt it. I seriously doubt it.”

Question 10

Carl Sagan

Carl Sagan: American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papersand articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books. You probably shouldn’t miss this one!

A

Marijuana

B

LSD

C

Amphetamines

D

Cocaine

E

Ketamine

Question 10 Explanation:

Sagan was a user and advocate of marijuana. Under the pseudonym “Mr. X”, he contributed an essay about smoking cannabis to the 1971 book Marihuana Reconsidered. The essay explained that marijuana use had helped to inspire some of Sagan’s works and enhance sensual and intellectual experiences. After Sagan’s death, his friend Lester Grinspoon disclosed this information to Sagan’s biographer, Keay Davidson. The publishing of the biography, Carl Sagan: A Life, in 1999 brought media attention to this aspect of Sagan’s life. Not long after his death, widow Ann Druyan had gone on to preside over the board of directors of NORML, a foundation dedicated to reforming cannabis laws.

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